showed "a lack of business integrity." tomorrow, president obama will send his top negotiators to meet tith congressional leaders. they have only weeks now to head off a big tax increase for most americans. the income tax rates will jump automatically january 1. it will be such a shock to the system that it has been called the fiscal cliff. our coverage starts on the white house lawn tonight with major garrett. major. >> reporter: scott, the saesident said for the first time, there is a two-step process to averting the fiscal cliff. republicans must act now to prevent a tax increase for households earning less than $250,000. do that now, president obama said, and he and congress can work out the details of spending cuts later. ( applause ) before a crowd of supporters, the white house invited from the mid-atlantic region, president obama put congressional republicans on notice. >> it's too important for washington to screw this up. now is the time for us to work on what we all agreed to, which is lets keep middle class tax